Recalled Product- Not Destroyed

There has been much speculation about what happened to all the recalled product sent back to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics for refund. According to the company's own recall/refund policy any recalled pigment returned for refund would be verified for authenticity and then discarded.

Within the last month now Ex GS Admin Carolyn visited GlitterSniffer Cosmetics and its proprietor, Lela Warren. She came home with roughly 600 hundred of the recalled pigments.

There are 261 pink pigments alone.

It is unknown at this time if this represents all the recalled product sent back to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, or what, exactly, the company did with any other recalled product it may have had in its possession. The only thing that is clear is that the products were not destroyed as the company committed to do, and were in fact willingly dispensed, despite their recall status.

For Every Action There Is An Equal But Opposite Reaction

I beg your indulgence as I pause briefly in presenting information on GlitterSniffer Cosmetics business practices.

Lela Warren visited the GlitterSniffer Complaints Facebook page this evening. It went as expected. Lela has been asked numerous times by the admins to preschedule her visits so that a productive discussion can be ensured. She again refused to comply with this request. That it degenerated fairly quickly is putting it mildly, to say the least.

There were valid questions that were being asked, but they were lost in the flurry of emotion. Not all responses from both sides are what one would have hoped they would be. That is unfortunate, as this is the first time in a long while that people have had unfettered access to Lela, and the possibility of some answers.

Here is the thread in its entirety should you wish to review it. I will not rehash it. There is one specific portion that I would like to address, however.

This exchange came shortly after Lela requested I get my "group" under control. It is edited only to remove a single persons personally identifying information.

I would like to take a moment to state what will hopefully be my only personal comment on this matter.

My name is Frances Danger and I write the GlitterSniffer Complaints blog.

We live with the circumstances we are given. My personal circumstance necessitated my starting this anonymously. That circumstance has not changed, but others have. To put it bluntly, I will not be bullied or have the veiled threat of the release of my personal information held over my head. Knowledge is power, and I refuse to let a woman who would knowingly sell unsafe cosmetics to trusting consumers, refuse refunds to those that so rightly deserve them, and outright use funds that were raised in good faith for various charities for her own personal use have any power over me.

I was never a GlitterSniffer fan and I will not be mistreated as so many others have.

That the page and blog exist is a direct consequence of the choices and decisions made by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics and its proprietor, Lela Warren. As I have stated previously had GS Cosmetics simply followed every rule and guideline when they started business, from using FDA approved ingredients, FDA approved labeling, shipping the exact products that were ordered, shipping in a timely manner, followed safe and sanitary formulating and packaging procedures, respecting all TOS of any site they utilized, donated all money raised for charity in a timely manner, and met all commitments to their consumers in good faith NONE of this would have happened.

There is a monster that was created, but the onus of that does not lay at my feet. I am nothing more than a girl who purchased a product in good faith that wanted a refund when it became clear that product was unusable. It was simply circumstance that after seeing all the information and the complete lack of responsibility on the part of this company I felt I could not walk away, no matter how much I was refunded. That the company and its proprietor are once again deflecting any kind of responsibility clearly illustrates how this situation came to be, and lends credence to the thought that it will not be over any time soon.

This changes nothing, save for putting a name to the posts. I will continue to research, to post, and to do everything in my power to ensure that every consumer has enough information to make a safe, informed decision as GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has not seen fit to do it themselves. These issues have gone on far too long and affected too many people to let it go.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to continuing the blog in the hopes that everyone is fully informed and that every deserving customer gets the refund they are owed.

Dammit Pigment

There was a discussion on the GS Complaints page recently about some products that GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has sold in the past. One of the discussions surrounded the sale of what were referred to as "Tabletop" or "Table Cloth" pigments. These were leftovers that were sold from pigment that had dropped onto the table and were then potted and sold for a flat fee.

It appears that this is a product that was sold by the company at least once.

There were at least three people who took advantage of this offer.

It is unknown at this time how these were labeled, or if any of the Dammit Pigments had ingredients for consumers to review. Given the previous pictures of possible unsafe formulation and packaging there may be a contamination concern in regards to the Dammit Pigments.

I present this information in hopes that anyone who may have purchased the Dammit Pigments can review it and make a safe, informed decision.

Others Experiences

In the past few days there have been several people who have retracted their support of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics, including Admins who were very close to the situation. Here is one of their stories. The person in question recently visited the company for a stay and has now left because of what she observed.

I left because of highly unsanitary conditions that I observed while at the rescidence of Lela Warren. She does NOT wear gloves. She told me upon entering her basement "office" that she did not wear gloves but I was not to say anything about it. And on top of this, for someone so close to the products you wear on your eyes, I would not be so trusting. She will use the restroom and smoke a cigarette but not wash her hands and go right back to work. This is disgusting.

I want to thank the woman for sharing. I hope this information is valuable to those that are still using the products and that they are able to use it to make a safe, informed decision.

Personally Identifying Information/FTC Followup

I received an email today from a person regarding this post. To review, on February 4, 2011 GlitterSniffer Cosmetics asked to hire one of their fans via the Facebook Fan Page to access the company gmail account, gather almost 2,000 customer names and addresses, place it in a blank document and email it back to the company. The company then addressed concerns regarding the release of personally identifying information without consent by stating that it was a 4 year employee who actually did the task. Ironically, they declined to name the employee. They also provided no information as to the use of this information.

I was contacted today by the person who actually did access the information. They wish to remain anonymous. The person is not employed by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics but has done work like this in the past. They are unsure what the information would be used for, apart from it being for some type of mailing list. They assured me that they no longer have the information, did not save a copy of it, and only sent it to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics.

This information contradicts what GlitterSniffer Cosmetics states happened in this situation. Additionally, it should be noted that this appears to be a common practice with the company. Some GS Admins of the private GS Group stepped down yesterday and are no longer supporting the company. Here is what one of them had to say regarding the free sample offer recently posted by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics:

At my count there were at least 5 known Admins as of yesterday. These women are not employed by GlitterSniffer Cosmetics. They are simply supporters who also take (or took in some cases) a role in administrating a fan group.

I will be contacting the FTC Tuesday with this new information, as Monday is a holiday.

Artfire Followup

I apologize for the lack of posts. I had a situation arise that required my attention. I have much to share over the next few days, but will start with this.

I emailed Artfire a few days ago at service@artfire.com. I was not the only one. There were several replies today, all with the same information.

In my email I outlined the various Artfire TOS violations that may be occurring in GlitterSniffer Cosmetics shop.

The email contained a confidentiality disclaimer. The disclaimer is very binding so I will not reiterate it here, but I will say it differed from the reply to my previous email about GlitterSniffer Cosmetics in one very significant way, and I am satisfied with their response.

Those looking for the GlitterSniffer Cosmetics Artfire will find it empty. To curb speculation it should be noted that the company announced it would be closing to catch up on orders.

They were unable to meet their stated turnaround time of 5 business days:

The turnaround time is now 8-10 days. This was announced via the company's Facebook Fan Page.

According to the FTC Mail and Order Telephone Merchandise Rule, which also covers internet sales:

If, after taking the customer’s order, you learn that you cannot ship within the time you stated or within 30 days, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delayed shipment. If you cannot obtain the customer’s consent to the delay -- either because it is not a situation in which you are permitted to treat the customer’s silence as consent and the customer has not expressly consented to the delay, or because the customer has expressly refused to consent -- you must, without being asked, promptly refund all the money the customer paid you for the unshipped merchandise.

 It is not clear if GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has contacted its customers to gain this consent, but at least one consumer was not satisfied:

2/18/11 ETA: Added Label "Complaints I Filed"

More Comparable Colors

I posted the other day in regards to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics previous practice of repackaging. Again, I am not going to debate the ethics of this practice nor am I stating unequivocally that it is still taking place, but I would like to present additional comparisons to GlitterSniffer Cosmetics recent, current, and soon to be offered products. This post is for informational and comparative purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement of any company linked herein.

In terms of repackaging the company has stated that it was a practice in the past but that it now blends its own pigments. Information showing what appears to be past repackaging is as follows:

This photo shows sample mica bags in the top right, next to filled pots that appear to be the same color as the samples.

Here is an Etsy listing showing what appears to be sample bags of mica. The empty mixing bags are how GS states they mix their colors. If you compare the purple bag in the listing to the sample bag of Grape POP! in the repackaging post they seem to be the same. The listing also appears to show some of the neon pinks which have now been recalled as unsafe for eye use (when in fact they are not approved for cosmetic use at all). Though at the time of this sale these colors were not recalled, GlitterSniffer Cosmetics has always maintained they disclosed in all listings that the neons were for general cosmetic use only. This is disclosed nowhere in the listing and it is being sold specifically as 'cosmetic eye shadow'.

GlitterSniffer Cosmetics is currently selling their products as "100% pure pigment". As pointed out in the previous post their own ingredients list gives pause to that assertion, as it lists Magnesium Stearate among ingredients it "may contain". MS is a base additive and not a pigment, making these claims not entirely correct.

All that being said here is a list of GlitterSniffer Cosmetics products and their comparable micas or recipes (which are publicly available for anyone to use).

Delirious is comparable to Colorana Blue.
Saturday Night is comparable to 24 Karat Gold.
Seuss White is comparable to Silver Micro Fine Glitter and Fairy Dust 004.
Seuss Gold is comparable to Gold Micro Fine Glitter.
Rock Candy is comparable to Manganese Violet (Left most pigment in the picture).
Hangover is comparable to Dark Brown Oxide.
Rings of Saturn is comparable to Orange Oxide.
Tsunami is comparable to Blue Ice.
Jabberwocky is comparable to Antique Silver.
Illegal Presence is comparable to Brown #3.
Red Rum is comparable to Rouge Flambe Red.
Tear Drops is comparable to Colorana DARK Blue (with Holla Glow Glitter).
Zombie Girl is comparable to Lotsa Lime. 
Harajuku Collection Coral is comparable to True Coral.
The Unicorn Collection Blue, White, and Black are comparable to Soft Blue, Pearl White, and Soft Black.
The retired Christmas Lights Collection and the as yet unreleased Video Game Collection are comparable to most of the Trues Collection (all, except for Red/Orange, which is not eye approved).

This list is not comprehensive as I only researched the first page on Artfire and select colors and collections. Again, these are only comparable micas and recipes, and the only verified mica that was definitively used, as per an email with GlitterSniffer Cosmetics on January 10, 2011, is the coral in the Harajuku Collection.

Though the list is comparative and informational only it would appear to be quite easy to substitute other micas for what the company is selling, is planning on selling, and has sold in the past at a fraction of the cost.

2/13/11, ETA: Fixed the link for 24 Karat Gold.

2/14/11 ETA:
A member of the GS Complaints Facebook Page who also is a formulator states that Tear Drops may be closer in color to True Blue with Holla Glow Glitter. She also states that Seuss Gold may also contain Gold Sparks, in addition to the Gold Micro Fine Glitter.